THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


EARLY  ASPIRATIONS: 


OOLLEOTIO3ST    OIF1 


OEMS 


By    ROBERT     DRAPER 


1883. 


TO 


WITH   THE  FERVENT  HOPE  THAT  THEIR  LIVES  MAY   BE  FILLED 

WITH  NOBLE  AIMS,  AND 

THAT,  UNDER  A  KIND   PROVIDENCE,  THEY  MAY   BE  ABLE 
TO  DO  MORE  AND  BETTER  THAN  THEIR 


762892 


PREFACE. 


THIS  little  collection  of  poems  is  made  with  a  twofold  purpose:  one 
being  to  gather  together  the  occasional  thoughts,  mainly  of  earlier  years,  to 
preserve  for  my  own  gratification ;  the  other,  that  I  may  be  enabled  to 
present  to  my  friends  a  private  testimonial  of  esteem.  It  is  to  be  hoped  they 
may  not  prove  an  infliction  instead  of  a  pleasure. 

They  stand  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  written,  and  probably  that 
is  the  best  form  in  which  to  place  such  fugitive  efforts  ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  it  preserves,  in  a  measure,  the  line  of  my  own  thought  and  experience. 

Before  receiving  the  printer's  benediction,  some  wild  branches  have 
been  pruned  off,  and  some  sprigs  of  later  thought  have  been  added.  I  am 
still  conscious  of  their  defects,  but  they  are  the  best  that  I  can  offer  from 
the  limited  time  and  opportunities  I  have  been  able  to  command.  I  may 
add  that  nothing  would  give  me  more  sincere  delight  than  to  have  found 
the  way  to  enrich  them  by  a  higher  culture,  a  larger  knowledge,  and  a 
deeper  reflection.  But  sharp  experience  has  taught  me  that  the  duties 
and  necessities  of  life  build  stern  limitations,  and  that  the  hard  and 
exhausting  struggle  for  existence  and  advancement  soon  clips  the  wings 
of  imagination  and  makes  short  work  with  poetical  dreaming.  But  the 
little  accomplished  I  now  venture  to  send  forth  on  private  rambles,  knowing 
that,  from  my  friends,  their  shortcomings  will  be  tenderly  received,  and 
whatever  merit  they  may  possess  will  be  fully  accorded. 

R.  D. 

CANTON,  MASS.,  Feb.  16,  1883. 


CONTENTS, 


GIVE  PRAISE  TO  GOD, 9 

AFLOAT, 11 

THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL, 12 

THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT, 13 

POETICAL  EPISTLE  TO  J.  H., 15 

BALANCES, 20 

ELIJAH'S  SIGN  TO  DETERMINE  THE  TRUE  GOD,       23 

LINES  WRITTEN  IN  A  SlCK-ROOM  AT  MIDNIGHT, 26 

THE  DEITY, 28 

THE  BLUES  AND  THE  CURE,      30 

EXTRACTS    FROM  A  SACRED    POEM,    ENTITLED    "THE    DESTRUCTION    OF 

BABYLON,"      32 

PETITION  OF  THE  HEART 34 

SING  YE  TO  THE  LORD, 35 

TRUST,      36 

PRAYER  FOR  DIVINE  GUIDANCE, 37 

THE  ONWARD  COURSE  OF  TIME, 38 

MORNING, 39 

WHAT  MAN  is  GREAT?     . 40 

LINES  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  Miss  M.  C 45 

LINES  WRITTEN  UPON  THE  COMPLETION  OF  THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE,     ...  46 

FEBRUARY  TWENTY-SECOND,  1859, 48 

STERLING  TREASURES, 51 

GREAT  JUDGE  OF  RIGHT, 52 

GOD  OUR  ETERNAL  SUPPORT, 55 


8  CONTENTS 

FRAILTY  OF  HUMAN  JUDGMENT, 56 

LINES  SUPPOSED  TO  BE  WRITTEN  BY  AN  AMERICAN  SLAVE, 57 

ADAM,  OR  THE  FIRST  MAN, 60 

AS  WE  GO  MARCHING  ON, 63 

COMMEMORATION  HYMN, 65 

THE  BURNING  OF  CHICAGO, 67 

THE  GATHERING  CLOUD, 69 

STANZAS, 71 

HURRAH  FOR  THE  BEACH, 72 

SCATTER  THE  FLOWERS, 73 

THE  SABBATH  BELLS, 74 

LINES  WRITTEN  IN  DIFFICULTY, 75 

LINES  WRITTEN  IN  AN  ALBUM,       78 

SUGGESTED  BY  THE  UNVEILING  OF  THE   LINCOLN  EMANCIPATION  STATUE 

IN  BOSTON,  1879, 79 

THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE, 81 

THE  LOVED  ONES  AT  HOME, 83 

ANCHORINGS, 85 


EARLY    ASPIRATIONS. 


GIVE  PRAISE  TO  GOD. 

i. 

GIVE  praise  to  Gcd  !  to  Him  be  given 
The  praises  of  both  earth  and  heaven  ; 
Let  their  united  voices  raise 
A  mighty  song  of  joy  and  praise. 


ii. 

Praise  Him  who  robes  the  earth  with  light, 
And  folds  it  in  the  shades  of  night ; 
Who  holds  the  seasons  in  his  hand 
To  fill  with  blessings  every  land. 


in. 

Praise  Him  who  built  th'  eternal  hills, 
The  valleys  who  with  verdure  fills ; 
Whose  power  pervades  the  mighty  deep, 
Whose  love  and  mercies  never  sleep. 


IO  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


IV. 

Praise  Him  who  arched  the  heavens  on  high, 
And  filled  with  stars  the  gleaming  sky ; 
Praise  Him  who  framed  the  human  mind 
In  truth  and  goodness  God  to  find. 


v. 

Praise  Him,  ye  nations  of  the  earth  ! 
Praise  Him  who  gave  creation  birth, 
Praise  Him  who  still  the  work  prolongs, 

Praise  Him  to  whom  all  praise  belongs ! 

1854. 


AFLOAT  I I 


AFLOAT. 


ONCE  more  upon  the  living  wave,  where,  boys,  we  love  to  be, — 
The  dome  of  heaven  above  our  heads, —  beneath,  the  rolling  sea ; 
The  heaving  bosom  of  the  deep  makes  ours  in  concord  throb, 
Its  grandeur  grows  into  our  souls,  and  brings  us  close  to  God ! 


Sweep  on,  ye  glorious  winds,  sweep  on  !  ye  gray  old  billows,  roll  ! 
The  freedom  of  the  deep  alone  can  fill  the  sailor's  soul ! 
Thank  God  that  only  one-fourth  land  the  wide  world's  beauty  mars, 
While  waters  thrice  as  wide  reflect  the  glory  of  the  stars  ! 


Where'er  the  bounding  billows  roll,  our  noble  bark  may  ride, 
The  welcome  winds  shall  bear  us  o'er  the  ever  friendly  tide ; 
Enough  that  we  may  plough  the  main,  no  bounds  to  dim  our  bliss, 
Save  where  the  circumambient  skies  and  ocean  meet  to  kiss ! 


No  sculptured  stone  shall  mark  the  spot  where  we  to  earth  return ; 
The  billows  that  in  life  we  loved,  in  death,  shall  be  our  urn  ; 
The  mighty  deep  alone  should  hold  the  ashes  of  the  free, 
And  our  requiem  be  chanted  by  the  ever-sounding  sea. 


Roll  on,  thou  ever-changing  sea!  in  majesty  sublime, 

Lave  with  thy  blessings  every  shore,  and  hallow  every  clime ; 

In  tenderness  upon  thy  breast  the  mighty  ages  sleep, 

And  He,  who  guides  eternal  power  and  grandeur  guards  the  deep! 

1854. 


12  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 


I. 

How  BLEST  is  the  hour  when  the  children  assemble, 
And  childhood  and  youth  lift  their  spirits  in  song ; 
Where  the  heart  learns  to  love  and  to  trust,  not  to  tremble 
Where,  in  love  of  the  pure  and  the  true,  we  grow  strong. 


n. 

Surely  this  is  God's  garden,  for  here  are  the  fairest 
And  loveliest  flowers  that  can  gladden  the  earth  ; 
For  the  flowers  of  the  heart  yield  a  fragrance  the  rarest 
Where  purity  blossoms  and  faith  has  its  birth. 


in. 

With  offerings  unstinted,  with  radiant  delight, 
Let  heart,  mind,  and  means  for  the  children  have  play ; 
Fill  their  young  hearts  with  courage  to  live  what  is  right, 
To  the  sunlight  of  God  point  them  ever  the  way. 

1854. 


THE    DAY    OF   JUDGMENT  13 


THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT. 

[Matthew  xxiv.,  29-31.] 

THICK  darkness  shall  mantle  the  earth  and  the  sky, 
And  the  waters  with  frenzy  shall  rush  from*  on  high  ; 
The  earth  shall  wax  faint,  and  in  wonder  the  skies 
Shall  stoop  when  Jehovah  in  judgment  shall  rise. 


The  sun  shall  become  but  a  cold,  dusky  ball, 
And  the  stars  from  their  orbits  in  horror  shall  fall ; 
Heaven's  thunders  shall  roll  like  the  clouds  at  his  feet, 
And  her  lightnings  shall  blaze  through  the  farthest  retreat. 


So  Jehovah  shall  come  in  his  glory  and  might, 
E'en  the  angels  of  God  shall  be  awed  at  the  sight ; 
The  curtains  of  heaven  shall  roll  back  as  a  scroll, 
While  the  Universe  groans  and  surrenders  its  soul. 


Then  his  angels  shall  soar  o'er  the  sea  and  the  land, 
And  above  the  loud  thunder  the  trumpet  shall  sound  ; 
And  Earth  shall  her  millions  upheave  at  the  blast, 
And  Ocean  his  burden  to  judgment  shall  cast. 


14  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

Then  the  Judge  of  the  world,  in  pavilions  of  light, 
With  swift  justice  the  wrongs  of  all  nations  shall  right, 
And  mete  with  just  measure  their  honor  or  shame, 
Nor  a  tear,  nor  a  pang,  unrequited  remain  ! 


And  the  glass  which  so  darkly  now  hideth  his  ways 
With  his  Fatherly  Love  shall  triumphantly  blaze ; 
And  Justice  and  Truth  crowned  with  glory  shall  rise 
As  Time  in  the  arms  of  Eternity  dies. 

1854. 


POETICAL    EPISTLE    TO   J.   H.  15 


POETICAL  EPISTLE  TO  J.  H. 

CANTON,  Feb.  i,  1855. 
DEAR  JOE,  I  gladly  take  my  pen 

To  bear  my  love,  and  tell  again 
How  fact  and  fancy  circle  round 
This  rocky,  bleak,  terrestrial  ground. 


Kind  Providence  her  matchless  wealth 

Bestows  in  all-abounding  health  ; 

Were  all  the  world  like  our  sweet  plain, 

Pandora  could  no  longer  reign. 

The  bracing  air,  so  pure  and  good, 

Works  like  a  tonic  in  the  blood  ; 

And  health  in  every  vein  will  dance 

Where  sense  and  nature  have  a  chance. 

And  Esculapius,  with  his  pills 

And  fostering  care  of  petty  ills, 

May  take  a  long  and  quick  farewell, 

And  laughing  Health  with  us  will  dwell. 

No  sleek  M.D.'s  we  care  to  see, 

Who  sponge  a  fortune,  called  a  fee  ; 

And  well  can  spare  the  soulless  hacks, 

The  nostrumed  horde,  the  murdering  quacks, 

And  half-taught,  bogus-titled  knaves, 

Who  learn  their  trade  by  filling  graves. 


l6  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

The  stream  of  trade  is  sluggish  now 
As  water  in  a  Western  slough  ; 
The  hum,  the  snap,  the  charm,  has  fled, 
And  industry  lies  cold  and  dead. 

While  work  is  slack  and  times  are  dull, 
Hard  at  the  'rithmetic  I  pull, 
With  grammar  or  a  little  rhyme ; 
But  more  than  all  I  crowd  the  time 
With  delving  into  ancient  tomes 
Where  empires  bud  and  crumble  thrones. 
The  mighty  deeds,  my  thoughts  engage, 
On  Rollin's  panoramic  page, 
And  Plutarch's  heroes  live  again 
To  mould  and  fashion  noble  men. 
For  we  were  early  taught,  you  know, 
That  active  minds  to  triumph  go ; 
That  busy  hands  have  naught  to  fear, 
And  keep  old  Satan  in  the  rear. 


King  Winter,  grand  and  stern  and  wild, 

With  bannered  hosts  and  artist  guild, 

Goes  whistling  through  the  frozen  skies, 

While  o'er  the  world  his  mantle  lies; 

And  keenly  through  the  leafless  trees 

Careers  the  hyperborean  breeze. 

The  heavens  are  cold,  the  earth  is  dead,— 

The  soul  of  '54  has  fled ; 

And  cold  as  charity,  dear  Joe, 

Is  piled  around  th'  unblushing  snow. 

Though  eighteen  circling  years  have  shed 
Their  lights  and  shadows  o'er  my  head, 


POETICAL    EPISTLE    TO   J.  H.  \J 

I  have  not  yet  secured  a  wife 
To  jog  along  with  me  through  life  ; 
In  gladness,  all  my  joys  to  share, 
And  temper  every  breath  of  care ; 
To  cheer,  to  comfort,  and  to  throw 
A  halo  o'er  my  path  below. 
But,  still,  I  hold  it  best  to  take 
A  hint  from  nature,  and  to  mate 
When  manhood's  vigor  hails  its  spring, 
While  Hope  is  on  her  morning  wing, 
Ere  one  dull,  sordid  aim  we  form, 
And  pass  the  rose  to  pick  the  thorn. 

To  meet  the  stern  demands  of  life 
I  want  no  gewgaw  for  a  wife  ; 
No  glitter,  frippery,  or  pretence 
Must  take  the  place  of  common  sense ; 
No  saucy,  independent  air, 
Her  sex  unsexing,  must  she  wear  ; 
But  strength  with  sweetness  may  she  blend, 
With  noble  aims  may  vigor  wend, 
And  may  the  WOMAN,  clear  and  strong, 
Cleave  fast  to  right,  smite  hard  the  wrong. 
I  seek  a  girl  whose  heart  shall  be 
From  pride  and  affectation  free  ; 
Transparent  truth  her  eyes  must  speak, 
And  nature  only  tinge  her  cheek ; 
Refined  in  feeling,  thought,  and  word, 
And  blithe  and  cheery  as  a  bird  ; 
Whose  modest,  simple  tastes  disclose 
The  selfsame  hand  that  paints  the  rose. 

A  temper  sweet  I  hope  to  find, 
Health  waiting  on  a  well-stored  mind  ; 


I  8  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

Whose  heart  responds  to  mine,  as  true 
As  thirsty  flowers  to  evening's  dew ; 
Whose  aim  shall  be  to  build  her  throne 
Amid  the  calm  delights  of  home, 
And  make  that  realm  of  priceless  worth 
The  best-loved  spot  in  all  the  earth, — 
Where  sweet  content  and  peace  shall  kiss, 
And  mutual  love  make  perfect  bliss  ; 
Where  sickly  shams  and  shows  must  stop, 
And  o'er  that  threshold  enter  not, 
Nor  hollow-eyed  Appearance  rise 
To  blur  our  comfort  and  our  joys. 

A  voice  like  music,  soft  and  clear, 
To  soothe  the  soul  and  charm  the  ear, 
A  matchless  form  and  classic  face 
The  idol  of  my  soul  may  grace  ;  — 
But  fresh  as  ever  wild-flower  blew, 
And  pure  as  lily  ever  grew ; 
Whose  principles  as  instincts  flame 
Where  even  thought  could  leave  a  stain  ; 
Whose  love  will  wear,  and  brightest  glow 
When  trial  clouds  the  way  below ; 
And  native  goodness  is  the  ray 
That  gilds  with  glory  all  her  way  :  — 
These  are  the  life-charms,  fond  and  fair, 
Her  radiant  soul  must  ever  wear ; 
These  are  the  graces  which  control 
The  holiest  memories  of  the  souL 

Dear  Joe,  I  now  will  say  good-by, 
For  this  time  and  occasion  ; 

And  may  your  breast  ne'er  heave  a  sigh 
Nor  know  a  lone  sensation. 


POETICAL    EPISTLE    TO   J.  H. 

And  m'ay  your  eye  be  always  glad, 
And  may  your  heart  be  never  sad, 
And  when  life's  battles  called  to  fight 
Just  stick  like  beeswax  to  the  right. 

And,  when  upon  old  friends  you  call, 
Please  give  my  kind  regards  to  all ; 
And  to  your  worthy  self  consigned 

Within  this  humble  paper, 
The  best  love  and  good  wishes  find 

Of  your  nephew, —  ROBERT  DRAPER. 


2O  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


BALANCES. 

WHAT  trials  and  troubles  attend  us  each  day, 

They  track  every  footstep  below  ; 
Anxiety  harries  each  step  of  our  way, 

And  care  lines  the  path  as  we  go. 

Scourged,  racked,  and  borne  down  in  the  merciless  strife, 

The  crushed  soul  in  rebellion  may  rise  : 
Does  not  Fate  clamp- to  one  the  rough  battle  of  life 

And  toss  to  another  the  prize  ? 

Perchance  we  have  thought  that  the  burden  is  more 

Than  the  over-strung  heart  can  sustain  ; 
Perchance,  when  the  spirit  is  weary  and  sore, 

E'en  the  faith  lodged  above  me  may  strain. 

Are  our  spirits  then  made  of  such  pitiful  stock 

That  troubles  affright  and  dismay  ? 
Grim  struggles  the  cradle  of  manhood  must  rock, 

And  rend  the  soul's  fetters  of  clay. 

The  allotments  of  Fate  are  but  bald,  mocking  lies, 

The  crown  is  for  him  who  strives  best  : 
The  heart  knows  a  great  Providence  rules  in  the  skies, 

And  His  orcl' rings  are  all  for  the  best! 


BALANCES  21 


When  by  burdens  bowed  low,  if  our  spirits  will  rise, 
Then  His  arm  helps  us  over  the  way ; 

When  grief  wrings  the  heart,  if  we  look  to  the  skies, 
The  darkness  will  yield  to  the  clay. 


The  sorrows  we  carry  in  silence  and  tears, 
When  sympathy  mocks  the  torn  breast, 

Only  God  can  assuage  and  give  light  to  the  years, 
Ere  our  loved  ones  again  we  may  press. 


It  is  something  to  trust,  when  the  shadows  of  life 
Come  down,  and  we  scarce  know  the  way  : 

Why  lash,  unavailing,  the  spirit  to  strife, 
With  the  promise  of  strength  as  our  day  ? 


Can  man  fix  a  star  on  its  throne  in  the  sky, 

Or  call  forth  a  flower  from  the  sod  ? 
Can  he  marshal  the  secrets  that  gird  the  Most  High, 

Or  add  to  the  wisdom  of  God  ? 


Do  the  oaks  of  the  forest  attain  the  same  height  ? 

Neither  all  can  endure  the  same  strain  ; 
And  a  sweet  voice  within  tells  me  all  will  be  right, — 

Shall  a  mortal  his  Maker  arraign  ? 


Around  us  the  tempests  of  trial  may  crash, 

Nor  fear  our  serenity  shroud  : 
Through  doubting  and  darkness,  His  lightnings  will  flash 

When  the  soul  sweeps  the  blue  o'er  the  cloud. 


22  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


When  the  storm  darkly  gathers,  give  Duty  the  wheel ; 

Brave  hearts  round  the  sharp  back  of  care ; 
With  high  trust  we  advance  as  with  sinews  of  steel, 

And  smile  o'er  the  crags  of  despair ! 


Far  be  it  from  me  at  my  lot  to  repine  ; 

And,  where'er  o'er  the  earth  I  may  range, 
May  my  aim  be  to  render  my  living  divine, 

Till  He  bids  me  my  residence  change. 


1855- 


ELIJAH'S  SIGN  TO  DETERMINE  THE  TRUE  GOD  23 


ELIJAH'S   SIGN   TO   DETERMINE   THE   TRUE   GOD. 

FULL  three  circling  years  over  Israel's  plains 
The  fountains  of  heaven  had  been  sealed  in  the  skies, 

Till  the  sore,  blistered  earth  her  sweet  service  disclaims, 
And  Judaea  in  ashes  and  barrenness  lies. 

O  Israel !  how  oft  shall  the  lesson  be  told  ? 

That,  when  God  is  forgotten,  calamity  reigns  ; 
But,  when  righteousness  rules, —  still,  the  story  of  old, — 

By  his  bounties  Jehovah  his  blessing  proclaims. 

To  the  gods  that  are  false,  the  false  Ahab  is  led, 
Round  his  ways  are  the  meshes  of  Jezebel's  wiles, 

And  Asherah's  priests  at  her  table  are  fed, 

And  the  prophets  of  Baal  wax  strong  in  her  smiles. 

Then  Elijah,  God's  prophet,  so  simple,  so  grand, 
Bade  the  people  to  truth  lay  the  plummet  and  line  : 

"  Between  halting  opinions  how  long  will  ye  stand  ? 
If  the  Lord  then  be  God,  let  us  prove  for  all  time." 

Then  the  prophets  of  Baal  and  he  of  the  Lord 
Assembled  on  Carmel  to  prove  the  true  God, — 

To  reveal  the  Supreme,  and  whose  will  had  deferred 
The  rain,  when  gaunt  famine  was  stalking  abroad. 


24  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

And  this  did  Elijah  convey  as  a  sign : 

"  Let  him  be  your  God  that  shall  answer  by  fire  ; 

Choose  a  bullock,  and  raise  it  aloft  on  your  shrine, 
And  then  call  on  your  gods  to  enkindle  the  pyre.' 


Then  the  zealots  of  Baal  brayed  forth  from  the  morn 
Until  noon,  but  no  token  their  strained  vision  meets 

When  Elijah  exclaimed,  with  derision  and  scorn, 
"  Cry  aloud,  he's  a  god,  peradventure  he  sleeps  !  " 


Gashed  and  gory,  again  the  dupes  howled  with  their  might 
Still  the  altar  was  cold,  and  unanswered  their  cries  :  — 

Confounded  is  man  when  he  strays  from  the  right, 
For  his  Baals  are  deaf  unto  all  but  his  joys. 


Then  twelve  stones  took  the  prophet  to  Israel's  name, 
And  an  altar  he  reared  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 

Where  his  offering  he  placed  for  the  hallowing  flame, 
And  thrice  o'er  the  shrine  the  prized  water  he  poured. 


Then  Elijah,  with  fervor  and  zeal,  said,  "This  day, 
Great  God  of  our  fathers,  throughout  Israel's  land, 

Show  thou  only  art  God  !  "     Even  as  he  did  pray, 
The  sign  that  he  sought  was  advancing,  at  hand. 


For  down  from  the  skies  came  the  fire  of  the  Lord, 
And  a  glowing  incension  the  altar  enwreathed  ; 

And  the  people  bowed  low,  for  their  hearts  were  appalled : 
"The  Lord,  he  is  God  !  "  was  the  murmur  they  breathed. 


ELIJAH  S    SIGN    TO    DETERMINE    THE    TRUE    GOD  25 

Men  may  bow  to  their  Baals  of  pleasure  or  power, 
Or  the  almighty  Mammon  their  vision  may  blind ; 

But,  if  shadows  they  trust  in  prosperity's  hour, 

When  they  look  for  a  God,  but  a  phantom  they  find. 


Truth,  exiled  from  earth,  will  descend  from  the  sky, 

Though  bigots  may  howl,  and  though  tyrants  assail ; 
And  imposture's  wide  hells  yet  clean  open  shall  lie, 

For  Israel's  God  in  the  end  will  prevail. 

1855- 


26  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


LINES    WRITTEN    IN    A    SICK    ROOM    AT   MIDNIGHT. 

WHILST  we  our  vigils  through  the  long  night  keep, 

And  watch  with  tender  care  the  sick  man's  couch, 

Steal  in  thy  silence  down,  oblivious  sleep, 

And  sweet  repose  unto  the  sufferer  vouch. 

But  yesternoon,  he  walked  in  manhood's  pride, 

With  promise  of  long,  lusty  years  to  run ; 

But  life  and  death  move  ever  side  by  side, — 

Ere  down  heaven's  western  slope  had  rolled  the  sun, 

His  glorious  prime  a  blasted  wreck  was  cast ; 

Gone  was  the  rugged  health, —  life's  source  of  joys, — 

The  best  inheritance  that  man  can  grasp, 

Though  held,  a  spendthrift's  bauble,  till  it  flies. 

The  unbroken  line,  the  mighty  multitude 

From  age  to  age  go  hurrying,  jostling  on, 

And  only  pause  beneath  some  fateful  cloud, 

Nor  measure  life  while  shines  a  prosperous  sun. 


O  human  life !     O  love,  hope,  grief,  and  pain  ! 

A  few  short,  feverish  years,  and  all  is  o'er  : 

Hushed  is  the  grave  alike  to  praise  or  blame, — 

No  penitential  tears  can  e'er  restore 

The  bloom  of  opportunity  again, 

No  wrong  undo,  nor  snatch  life's  gold  from  dross, — 


LINES    WRITTEN    IN    A    SICK    ROOM    AT    MIDNIGHT  2J 

God's  gate  is  here  !  the  petty  pomps  of  men 
The  threshold  of  two  worlds  can  never  cross. 
Vain  is  the  shaft  reared  to  neglected  worth, 
No  hot  remorse  can  warm  Death's  icy  hand ; 
But  heaven's  own  bliss  may  nestle  round  the  earth, 
If  well  we  overstep  Time's  drifting  sand. 

1855- 


28  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


THE    DEITY. 

i. 
FATHER  of  light !  of  light  the  sun, 

Immensity  thy  name  surrounds  ; 
Man's  reason  fails  to  grasp  the  sum, 

Which  his  poor  feebleness  confounds. 


n. 
When  scenes  stupendous  greet  the  eye, 

Proportioned  praise  shall  we  divorce  ? 
The  spreading  earth,  the  boundless  sky, — 

Unoutlined  grandeur  guards  their  source. 


in. 
In  God's  great  temple  hushed  we  stand, 

And  reverent  awe  the  bosom  thrills, 
Though  veiled  is  the  Almighty  hand 

That  laid  the  deeps  and  reared  the  hills. 


IV. 

His  presence  fills  the  soul  with  awe 

Where  oceans  yawn  or  mountains  climb  ; 

His  wisdom  girds  the  world  with  law, 
And  leads  the  ancient  steps  of  Time. 


THE    DEITY  29 


V. 

He  folds  creation  in  his  care, 

And  binds  it  round  with  beams  of  light 
The  day  his  matchless  splendors  bear, 

His  glory  heaven  reveals  by  night. 

VI. 

His  thought  the  frame  of  Nature  cast  ; 

Her  every  nook  his  mercies  fill  ; 
His  arm  sustains  the  mighty  Past  ; 

The  Future  hangs  upon  his  will. 


VII. 

He  guides  the  ages  as  they  roll  ; 

He  moulds  the  nations  to  his  law  ; 
And  deep  within  the  human  soul 

Immortal  hopes  his  love  foresaw. 

VIII. 

His  chariot  is  eternal  Right, 

When  clouds  and  darkness  veil  the  skies  ; 
And  round  about  his  throne  of  light 

Eternal  truth  and  goodness  rise. 


IX. 

In  reverence  we,  his  children,  bend 

With  childhood's  sacred  trust  and  love  ; 

And  may  his  smile  our  steps  attend 

Through  life,  in  death,  and  heaven  above. 


3O  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


V 


THE  BLUES  AND  THE  CURE. 

FOR  but  sorrow  alone  should  a  mortal  prepare  ; 
With  the  first  beams  of  morn  rolls  the  swift  tide  of  care ; 
And,  as  night  from  the  skies  drops  her  mantle  of  gloom, 
His  grim  trooping  woes  bear  him  down  to  the  tomb. 

Pain,  trouble,  and  grief, —  grief,  trouble,  and  pain, — 
Is  the  chart  of  a  day  ;  and  all  days  are  the  same. 
To  fret,  worry,  and  fume  is  the  portion  of  man, 
The  fixed  rut  for  the  race,  the  unchangeable  plan. 

Anxiety  blisters  the  sole  and  the  palm, 

And  subsoils  the  heart  as  the  yeoman  his  farm  ; 

On  the  smoothest  of  brows  writes  in  wrinkles  her  frown, 

And  gnaws  even  the  roots  from  the  high-polished  crown. 

Care  chases  the  saint,  sinner,  sage,  and  the  fool, 
Nor  stagnation  nor  calm  knows  her  well-paddled  pool ; 
And  the  way  becomes  darker  the  older  we  grow, 
And  each  day  that  we  live  but  increases  our  woe. 

In  misfortune  we  sour,  and  call  friendship  a  lie : 
But  a  truce  to  complaint, —  let  us  fight  till  we  die  ! 
For  a  true  independence  no  foe  can  e'er  crush, 
While  the  angel,  Integrity,  needs  not  to  blush  ! 


THE  BLUES  AND  THE  CURE  31 

Meet  misery's  scowl  with  a  conquering  smile, 

Hope  nourishment  lends,  and  grim  care  will  beguile ; 

Hands  willing,  heads  clear,  hearts  sturdy  and  true, 

Flash  gleams  through  all  clouds,  and  find  stars  peeping  through  ! 


Then,  onward !  and  be  not  a  slave  to  despair, 
Unstring  not  the  will  to  heart-cankering  care  ; 
Give  your  woes  to  the  winds,  and  get  hold  of  the  right, 
Then  honestly,  hopefully,  manfully  fight. 


Drive  on  like  the  gale ;  and,  wherever  you  go, 
With  a  hand  for  a  friend,  and  contempt  for  a  foe, 
Trample  obstacles  down,  or  clean  over  them  climb, 
But  keep  sweetness  and  conscience,  with  grit,  to  the  line. 


32  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


EXTRACTS    FROM    A    SACRED    POEM    ENTITLED 
"THE    DESTRUCTION    OF    BABYLON." 

ALMIGHTY  GOD  !     Can  man  conceive  in  thought 

Thy  vast  omnipotence  ?     How  vain  to  try ! 

He  sees  the  worlds  thy  handiwork  hath  wrought, 

Which  all  the  rolling  years  of  change  defy  ; 

Thine  own  handwriting  overspreads  the  sky, — 

Stars  write  the  record  of  Almighty  power ; 

Within  thy  hand,  the  mighty  waters  lie ; 

Thy  presence  dwells  where  mountain  grandeurs  tower : 

All  perfect  nature's  God,  we  find  thee  in  each  flower ! 

Father  Divine !  inspire  my  thought  to  trace 

Thy  righteous  judgments,  which  are  just  and  sure  : 

Thou  art  a  God  whence  springs  o'erwhelming  grace, 

Abundant  mercy,  patient  to  endure 

The  errant  steps  when  worldly  pleasures  lure 

Thy  flocks  astray ;  but,  when  triumphant  waves 

Sin's  flaunting  banner,  then  dost  thou  immure 

Thy  face  in  grief,  while  blushless  Revel  raves, 

And  foul  Corruption  fills  the  world  with  misery's  waves  ? 

From  heaven's  far  ends  he  rolls  Destruction's  broods, 
Earth-rocked  convulsions  at  his  bidding  rise, 
At  his  command  the  Deluge  rolls  her  floods, 
And  tempests  robed  in  flame  invade  the  skies. 
The  God  of  armies,  HE  the  battle  guides  ! 


EXTRACTS  FROM  A  SACRED  POEM  33 

The  pride  of  Babylon  must  kiss  the  grave, 

The  doom  of  heaven  on  all  her  vileness  lies  ; 

Fate's  mystic  words  her  palace  walls  invade  : 

When,  madly,  man  fights  God,  he's  but  the  Devil's  slave. 

Dash  man's  vain  creeds  and  dogmas  in  the  dust, 

Make  God  in  nature  and  his  Word  your  guide ; 

There  build  your  fanes,  let  there  repose  your  trust, 

On  his  foundations  bid  the  soul  abide, 

And  firmest  stand  when  most  and  sorest  tried  : 

By  Duty  led,  as  Conscience  dictates,  DO  ! 

Build  deep,  build  broad,  build  strong,  build  high,  build  true  : 

Undying  principles  the  long  eternities  sweep  through. 

1855- 


34  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


PETITION    OF    THE    HEART. 

i. 

FATHER  of  mercy,  source  of  love  ! 

When  all  grows  dark  and  hope  seems  gone, 
When  faint  and  weary,  then,  oh,  give 

The  faith  to  strive,  and  still  press  on. 


II. 

Help  us  to  tread  the  narrow  way 
Nor  count  the  trial,  pain,  or  loss  ; 

To  every  night  there  comes  a  day, — 
A  time  to  lay  down  every  cross. 


in. 
Teach  us  how  manhood  must  be  won, 

How  Christian  fortitude  is  blest ; 
And,  when  our  work  on  earth  is  done, 
Take  us  to  Thine  eternal  rest. 

1856. 


SING    YE    TO    THE    LORD  35 


SING   YE   TO   THE   LORD. 

SING  ye  to  the  Lord,  lift  the  timbrels  of  gladness, 

The  arm  of  Jehovah  his  people  hath  saved  ; 
He  stayed  the  mailed  hosts  in  their  noonday  of  madness, 

And  the  dark  waters  rolled  where  their  banners  were  waved. 

At  the  prophet's  grand  mandate,  swift  back  to  their  places 
Triumphantly  surged  the  omnipotent  waves  : 

They  clasped  the  vast  hosts  in  their  fatal  embraces, 
And  the  legions  embattled  went  down  to  their  graves. 

Darkness  hides  the  Almighty,  but  clear  is  his  leading : 
To  Freedom  went  Israel  by  fire  and  by  cloud ; 

And  unteachable  Egypt,  to  darkness  receding, 

Sank  as  lead  in  the  sea,  with  the  sea  for  a  shroud  ! 

Pain  chases  the  chariot  by  tyranny  driven  ; 

Every  link  is  plague-festered  which  liberty  chains ; 
All  the  ages  of  bondage  His  vengeance  hath  riven, 

Forever  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigns ! 

In  glory  triumphant  he  marshals  the  deep, 
And  halts  the  proud  nations  defying  his  will ; 

Not  forever  his  wrath  o'er  injustice  will  sleep  : 
Slow  and  sure  down  the  ages  Jehovah  moves  still ! 

1856. 


36  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


TRUST. 

i. 
THE  thunder  hoarse  may  rend  the  skies, 

And  devastation  strew  the  plain, 
In  fear  the  trembling  mountains  rise, 

And  chaos  smite  the  roaring  main. 

II. 

Though  earth  the  elements  should  rend, 

And  fierce  commingling  horrors  pour, 
Our  God,  our  everlasting  Friend, 

In  season  due  will  calm  restore. 

in. 
Should  danger's  front  our  souls  appall, 

His  guardian  care  is  o'er  us  still ; 
And  yet,  should  even  then  we  fall, 

We  fall  by  His  omniscient  will ! 

IV. 

Faith  buoyed  the  ark  which  Noah  bore 

When  the  dark  waters  veiled  the  land  ; 
'  He  sought,  and  found  by  him  a  shore 
Who  holds  the  waters  in  his  hand. 

v. 
So  may  we  on  life's  ocean  sail, 

Through  days  and  weeks,  through  months  and  years, 
Secure,  though  tempests  should  prevail, 

Till  God,  our  Ararat,  appears. 

1856. 


PRAYER    FOR    DIVINE    GUIDANCE  37 


PRAYER   FOR   DIVINE   GUIDANCE. 

i. 
FATHER  DIVINE  !  thy  love,  thy  light, 

Shed  o'er  our  poor,  uncertain  way  ; 
Through  error  guide  our  footsteps  right, 

And  lead  us  into  truth's  broad  day. 

n. 
Shackle  our  faults  to  thy  control, 

Bid  passion's  surging  floods,  "  Be  still  "  ; 
Uproot  each  lust  that  rots  the  soul, 

And  bend  to  thine  the  wayward  will. 

in. 
While  discord  shakes  on  earth  the  breast, 

While  fierce  the  fires  of  passion  glow, 
Far  is  thy  bliss  from  such  unrest, 

Oh,  aid  us  heaven  to  find,  below  ! 

IV. 

To  gain  the  springs  of  human  joy ; 

Thy  smile  to  win  in  every  place ; 
To  weigh  not  shadows  as  they  fly ; 

Thy  goodness  everywhere  to  trace. 

v. 
Lead  us  where  it  seems  best  to  thee, 

With  reason,  faith,  and  love  to  cheer ; 
Then  never  from  thee  can  we  flee, 

And  ever,  Father,  thou  art  near. 


1856. 


38  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


THE    ONWARD    COURSE    OF   TIME. 

i. 
ON  sternly  sweeps  despoiling  Time, 

Worlds  'neath  his  awful  steps  decay  ; 
Man's  proudest  works,  the  vast,  sublime, 

Oblivion  darkly  bears  away. 

n. 
All  eye  can  pierce,  above,  below, — 

In  heaven's  starred  dome  or  earth  we  tread, — 
Yet  Time's  effacing  hand  will  throw 

O'er  all,  the  mantle  of  the  dead. 

III. 

Beneath  the  feet  that  empires  crush  — 
The  hand  that  grasps  Creation's  soul  — 

Shall  man  with  bold  presumption  rush, 
Whose  life  as  fleeting  day  doth  roll  ? 

IV. 

Youth  opes  with  morning's  blush  life's  page ; 

With  mid-day's  sun  comes  manhood's  breath  ; 
Day's  setting  views  his  tottering  age  ; 

Night  folds  him  in  the  arms  of  death. 

v. 
With  every  soul  of  human  birth, 

Remorseless  Time  goes  hurrying  on  ; 
And  soon  the  longest  lines  of  earth 

In  God's  eternal  cycles  run. 


1856. 


MORNING  39 


MORNING. 

HAIL  !  to  the  beams  of  opening  day, 
Silently  bearing  the  night  away ; 
Hail  to  the  light !  as  the  skies  it  fills 
And  breaks  in  beauty  o'er  the  hills ; 
Hail !  to  the  living,  crimson  glow, 
Pouring  joy  o'er  the  world  below  : 
The  feet  of  Morn  with  glory  shod 
Seem  to  herald  the  march  of  God  ! 


As  the  swift  streamers  of  the  dawn 
Make  proclamation  of  the  morn, 
The  modest  stars  from  view  retire 
Before  th'  advancing  orb  of  fire. 
And,  as  the  glorious  morning  breaks, 
The  world  to  teeming  life  awakes  ; 
Earth's  myriad  forms  of  life  begin 
To  lift  their  sacred  morning  hymn  ; 
Ten  thousand  feathered  songsters  raise 
A  mighty  song  of  loving  praise  ; 
Ten  thousand  forms  of  beauty  glide 
Unmarred  by  passion  or  by  pride  ; 
And  round  the  globe  to  greet  the  sun 
With  worship  —  only  man  is  dumb. 

1857. 


4O  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


WHAT    MAN    IS    GREAT? 

i. 

WHAT  man  is  great  ?     The  man  whose  soul 

Unyielding  virtue  doth  control ; 

Whose  honor  knows  no  shade  of  stain  ; 

Whose  independence  brooks  no  chain  ; 

Whose  rectitude  no  art  can  warp  ; 

Whose  conscience  guides  the  helm  of  thought 

Whose  faith  in  God  and  truth  and  right 

Is  steadfast  as  the  polar  light ; 

Who  hates  a  wrong  in  every  form, 

And  meets  it  with  a  giant  scorn  ; 

Who  frames  his  life  by  nature's  rules, 

Scorns  social  lies  and  Grundy  fools, 

Weak  pride's  disdain,  bald  self-conceit, 

Loathes  cunning's  wiles  and  hates  deceit  ; 

Whose  instinct  feeds  on  noble  aims, 

And  low-born  subterfuge  disdains  ; 

Who  makes  simplicity  his  school, 

Where  pomp  and  ostentation  rule  ; 

Whose  life  becomes  a  simple  prayer 

In  God's  great  providential  care. 

ii. 

What  man  is  great  ?     Can  gold  give  birth 
To  deathless  thoughts,  to  native  worth  ? 
Will  supple  knees  at  Mammon's  feet 
Make  hearts  with  pure  affection  beat  ? 


WHAT    MAN    IS    GREAT  ?  41 

Shall  bartered  virtues  honor  bring, 
Or  social  rank  from  knavery  spring? 
Have  claims  alone  the  venal  mart 
Whose  only  home  should  be  the  heart  ? 
But  he  who  kneels  before  a  shrine 
Above  the  power  of  chance  or  time 
Has  wealth  that  every  ill  defies, — 
A  spring  of  bliss  that  never  dries. 
And  what  is  man,  though  he  may  tower 
The  slave  of  wealth,  of  fame,  of  power, 
If  love  is  cold,  if  honor  sleeps, 
If  truth  is  dumb,  if  justice  weeps  ? 
Mute  be  the  harp  of  praise, —  ay,  brand 
A  fabric  that  can  never  stand  ; 
For  what  men  by  the  devil  gain 
Sooner  or  later  returns  with  shame. 


in. 

What  man  is  great  ?     The  man  whose  soul, 
When  trial's  storms  around  him  roll, 
Unshaken  stands  ;  whose  heart  is  stirred 
To  courage  new  from  hopes  deferred  ; 
Whose  growing  burdens  prove  a  goad 
To  scale  the  sharp  and  thorny  road ; 
Who  never  faints,  retreats,  or  whines, 
But  still  the  mount  of  triumph  climbs  ; 
Who  never  stops  to  cosset  care, 
But  meets  it  with  an  inward  prayer  ; 
Though  worn  with  toil,  with  grief,  or  woe, 
Though  misery's  bitter  cup  o'erflow, 
Though  tempests  of  misfortune  shed 
Their  withering  blasts  upon  his  head, — 


42  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

Who  scorns  to  yield  whate'er  oppose 
While  Duty  bids  him  bear, —  who  throws 
Defiance  on  the  darkest  fate 
And  nobly  struggles  on, —  is  great ! 
Who,  though  defeat  each  effort  quell, 
Knows  "he  who  does  his  best  does  well "  ; 
Who,  when  life's  conflicts  fiercely  fall, 
By  steeled  endurance  conquers  all. 

IV. 

What  man  is  great  ?     'Tis  he  who  stands 

With  generous  breast  and  willing  hands 

To  cheer  and  help  at  mercy's  call, 

To  raise  his  fellows  when  they  fall ; 

To  ease  their  agonizing  throes  ; 

To  stem  the  blasts  of  others'  woes  ; 

To  aid,  where  stern  privations  rest ; 

To  soothe,  where  anguish  stabs  the  breast ; 

Hearts  bowed  with  wrongs  to  raise  and  cheer, 

By  deeds  to  dry  the  burning  tear: 

For  man's  true  mission  is  to  live 

Each  other  happiness  to  give. 

What  bounds  that  mission  shall  be  shown  ? 

Why  bound  the  light  from  God's  own  throne  ? 

Where  suns  may  rise,  whilst  ages  roll 

Its  lines  embrace  the  mighty  whole. 

And  hath  not  Heaven  the  chiefest  place 

For  those  who  best  may  serve  their  race  ? 

v. 

What  man  is  great  ?     'Tis  he  whose  light, 
Whose  only  aim  and  guide,  is  Right ! 
And  fire  by  night  and  cloud  by  day 
Illumes  and  marks  her  royal  way. 


WHAT    MAN    IS    GREAT  ?  43 

For  Right  strain  every  mortal  nerve, 
From  that  foundation  never  swerve  ; 
Press  in  her  van,  wherever  thrust, 
And  in  the  "  God  of  Battles  "  trust. 
Will  stricken  Right  e'er  burst  her  tomb  ? 
Will  rise  the  sun  which  sets  in  gloom  ? 
So  prostrate  Right  in  every  form 
Shall  hail  her  resurrection  morn  ; 
Sooner  or  later,  from  the  skies, 
The  living  mandate  comes,  Arise  ! 
And  man  still  learns  in  sorrow's  school, 
The  Almighty  lives,  and  Right  must  rule. 


VI. 

What  man  is  great  ?     Who  builds  the  best 

For  life's  great  strife,  for  heaven's  great  rest  ? 

They  are  not  always  nearest  God 

Whose  lives  with  great  achievements  throb ; 

The  noblest  living  is  not  found 

In  blazoned  deeds  or  laurelled  ground  : 

The  grandest  heroism  ever  shown 

Perchance  to  God  is  only  known. 

He  best  fulfils  his  Maker's  plan 

Who  proves  in  every  place  a  MAN  : 

Whose  courage  breasts  the  rolling  years, 

And  never  flinches,  tires,  or  fears  ; 

Whose  love  bears  lightly  every  cross 

Of  circumstance,  nor  counts  the  loss  ; 

Who  thrusts  behind  whate'er  denies, 

And  scorns  temptation's  liveried  wiles  ; 

Who  tramples  down  the  devil  Fraud, 

By  bribes  unbought,  by  threats  unawed  ; 


44  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

Who  curries  not  to  mortal  man, 
Loves  honest  worth,  and  hates  a  sham  ; 
Who  rears  himself  a  wrong  to  smite, 
And  lowly  stoops  to  lift  the  right ; 
Whose  holy  wrath  injustice  stirs, 
Yet  oft  through  soft-eyed  mercy  errs  ; 
Whose  loving  memory,  green  and  sweet, 
Each  kindly  act  received  will  keep, 
Yet  who  would  tenfold  favor  do, — 
Forget,  and  then  the  deed  renew  ; 
Whose  soul  the  praise  of  man  may  shun, 
But  listens  low  for  Heaven's  "  Well  done  !  " 
These  are  the  great !  for  greatness  sits 
Upon  his  brow  who  well  acquits 
Himself  of  his  God-given  trust, 
And  proves  kind,  honest,  faithful,  just ; 
Whose  mind  no  superstitions  sway, 
But  keenly  watches  every  ray 
That  mellows,  lifts,  improves,  expands, 
That  feeds  the  heart  or  nerves  the  hands 
For  noble  effort,  thought,  or  deed, 
Unawed  by  priestly  craft  or  greed, 
By  puling  doubts  or  slavish  fears, 
Whose  rectitude  life's  problem  clears  ; 
Whose  breast  with  sacred  aims  is  strong, 
And  fears  in  thought  to  harbor  wrong ; 
Whose  soul,  when  life's  dark  surges  rise, 
Takes  chart  and  compass  by  the  skies  ; 
Whose  feet  right's  simple  way  have  trod, 
Then  trusts,  and  leaves  the  rest  with  God. 

1857. 


LINES    ON    THE    DEATH    OF    MISS    M.  C.  45 


LINES   ON   THE   DEATH    OF   MISS    M.  C. 

GOD'S  messenger  came  in  the  stillness  of  night 
A  welcome  to  bring  from  the  regions  of  light, 
And  the  blissful  release  in  the  smile  we  could  trace 
That  the  finger  of  Death  had  engraved  on  her  face ; 
And  she  rose  with  no  doubting,  no  tear,  and  no  groan, 
From  the  footstool  of  Time  to  Eternity's  throne. 
Though  our  life's  blood  is  chilled  as  our  loved  ones  depart, 
Though  the  lone,  narrow  dwelling  may  pall  the  sad  heart, 
Still  our  hopes  are  undimmed,  and  Faith  gilds  every  tear, 
For  the  Mary  we  honored  and  loved  is  not  here ; 
And  enduring  and  steadfast  remaineth  our  trust, 
Though  her  perishing  vestments  are  laid  in  the  dust, 
Through  the  ages  to  sleep  'neath  the  storm-beaten  sod, 
That  her  spirit  went  up  to  the  home  of  its  God. 

1858. 


46  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


LINES 

WRITTEN    UPON    THE    COMPLETION    OF    THE    ATLANTIC    CABLE. 

GOD  be  praised  !  it  is  finished  !     All  doubting  is  o'er, 
And  astonishment  thrills  the  long  sea-severed  lands. 

Thought,  flashed  by  the  lightnings  from  shore  unto  shore, 

Makes  a  path  through  the  deep,  and  the  Nations  shake  hands ! 


For  what  is  the  waste  of  the  wide-reaching  sea 

When  coursed  by  the  Almighty's  couriers  of  flame, 

That  await  but  the  bidding  of  man  ere  they  flee,  • 
His  will  to  declare  and  his  words  to  proclaim  ! 


Their  line  has  gone  forth  as  a  girdle  of  light, 
By  fair  Science  led  and  all-conquering  will ; 

Their  words  to  the  ends  of  the  world  take  their  flight, 
Bearing  glory  to  God,  to  man  peace  and  good-will. 


And  hastening  the  dawn  when  the  tribes  of  the  earth 
Shall  be  joined  as  one  family,  kindred,  and  blood, — 

This  day  has  a  nobler  humanity  birth, 

Prophetic  with  promise  that  reaches  to  God  ! 


LINES  47 

May  the  bonds  which  the  mother  and  child  now  unite, 
While  the  rock-riven  waves  of  old  Ocean  may  roll, 

Remain,  and  connect  with  omnipotent  might 

Nations,  Nature  made  kindred  in  thought  and  in  soul. 


May  peace  and  good-will  guard  the  path  through  the  sea, 
Till,  beyond  resurrection,  War  moulds  in  his  grave  ; 

With  multiplied  blessings  may  messages  flee, 

And  flash  for  proud  Freedom  till  earth  knows  no  slave. 

1858. 


48  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


FEBRUARY   TWENTY-SECOND,    1859. 

WHAT  means  yon  distant  booming  gun, 

Resounding  far  o'er  land  and  sea, 
As  years  their  annual  courses  run 

Throughout  the  Empire  of  the  Free  ? 
This  day,  what  star  arose  to  guide 

The  struggling  sons  of  Freedom  on  ? 
The  star  that  set  with  glory  dyed, 

The  star  the  world  calls  Washington  ! 

Who  kneeled  alone  to  Right  and  God, 

With  firm  and  steadfast  Truth  allied  ; 
Who  in  the  path  of  Justice  trod, 

And  made  Humanity  his  guide  ! 
The  good  of  every  clime  shall  prize 

The  honors  he  so  nobly  won ; 
And  unborn  millions  yet  shall  rise 

To  bless  the  name  of  Washington. 

Shall  we  not,  as  yon  cannon  roars, 

Our  grateful  meed  of  praise  impart 
To  him  who  sought  these  troubled  shores 

To  succor  Freedom's  found'ring  ark  ? 
Who  fled  from  fortune,  friends,  and  fame, 

From  all  a  generous  heaven  decreed, 
To  Freedom's  struggling  sons,  and1  came 

With  them  to  battle  and  to  bleed  ! 


FEBRUARY    TWENTY-SECOND,    1859  49 

No  rank  or  station  proud  could  e'er 

Our  venerated  love  control : 
We  view,  through  fame's  and  fortune's  glare, 

His  true  nobility  of  soul. 
Fixed  is  his  star  in  Fame's  proud  skies, 

Which  light  to  every  age  shall  give  : 
Till  Glory  sleeps,  till  Freedom  dies, 

The  name  of  Lafayette  shall  live  ! 


But  words  are  weak  for  nature's  kings, 

Whose  hearts  keep  time  to  human  needs ; 
Who  walk  where  Fate  her  shadow  flings, 

And  crown  their  lives  with  sacred  deeds. 
They  are  the  sign-boards  Heaven  has  set 

That  we  life's  royal  way  may  trace, — 
These  are  the  monarchs  to  whom  yet 

Earth's  sceptred  dummies  must  give  place  ! 


And  yet  Columbia,  even  now, 

The  favored  child  of  Freedom  stands, 
The  stain  of  slavery  on  her  brow, 

The  gore  of  bondage  on  her  hands  ! 
Blush,  while  that  bitter  speech  is  true, 

Which  burns  so  long  as  lives  the  shame 
"  I  sorrow  that  my  sword  I  drew 

To  fasten  on  the  negro's  chain  !  " 

Fair  land !  in  more  than  name  be  free, 
Let  Human  Rights  be  deemed  divine, 

Let  Freedom  breathe  from  sea  to  sea, 
Let  not  complexion  be  a  crime ! 


5O  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

Not  for  ourselves  alone  should  be 
The  skies  of  Freedom  ever  blue  : 

Shine  on,  ye  stars  of  Liberty, 

To  all  God's  children  alwavs  true  ! 


The  sacred  instincts  of  our  breast 

No  Union  of  Crime  shall  own, 
No  hell-leagued  Constitution  wrest 

Heaven-whispering  Conscience  from  her  throne. 
Our  granite  purpose  will  not  yield 

While  foul  injustice  blots  thy  sun  ; 
Though  with  our  blood  our  vows  are  sealed, 

The  negro's  rights  shall  yet  be  won  ! 


Peal  on,  thou  thunder-throated  gun, 

This  day  your  loudest  honors  roll, 
As  years  their  annual  courses  run, 

And  Freedom  shout  to  every  soul. 
With  heaven-fed  faith,  our  march  is  —  On  ! 

Till,  under  God,  from  sea  to  sea, 
We  make  the  land  of  Washington 

A  real  EMPIRE  of  the  FREE  ! 


STERLING    TREASURES  5  I 


STERLING   TREASURES. 

OH,  why  do  we  prattle  of  riches  and  beauty ! 

Will  glorified  puppets  life's  sunshine  impart  ? 
Heaven  hears  but  the  anthem  of  well-performed  duty, 

And  records  but  the  deeds  that  give  joy  to  the  heart. 

Beauty,  I  know,  bears  a  passport  to  favor ; 

But,  with  naught  to  sustain  it,  how  short  is  its  reign  ! 
And,  if  wealth  does  not  blend  with  unselfish  behavior, 

Its  honors  are  libels  and  live  but  in  name. 


An  affluent  mind  is  the  greatest  of  treasure ; 

A  sweet  disposition  is  beauty  supreme  : 
The  first  will  bequeath  the  serenest  of  pleasure, 

The  last  in  the  winter  of  age  will  be  green. 

They  are  friends  no  reverses  of  fortune  can  sway ; 

The  darker  our  night,  the  more  lustrous  they  shine  ; 
With  unborrowed  glory  they  gladden  our  way, 

And  render  the  humblest  of  living  divine. 

They  honor  life's  springtime,  they  hallow  gray  age ; 

On  joy's  solid  foundation  they  help  us  to  stand  ; 
And  a  far  purer  homage  they  ever  engage 

Than  mere  beauty  or  riches  can  ever  command. 

1859. 


52  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


GREAT   JUDGE    OF    RIGHT. 

GREAT  Judge  of  Right,  how  long  shall  man 
On  man  his  burning  avarice  urge  ? 

How  long  shall  he  refuse  to  stem 
The  hell  of  slavery's  lava  surge  ? 

How  long  o'er  Right  shall  triumph  Wrong, 

And  Justice  bend  before  the  strong  ? 

Behold  the  slave  !     Before  heaven's  sight 
Did  clouds  from  woe  and  misery  rise, 

Then  yon  refulgent  orb  of  light 

Would  roll  in  darkness  through  the  skies. 

Will  ne'er  relentless  man  forego 

To  roll  the  tide  of  human  woe  ? 

How  long  shall  men  in  bondage  groan 

In  lands  where  freedom  mounts  the  skies  ? 

How  long  shall  man  God's  image  own, 
To  lash,  to  chain,  and  goad  to  sighs  ? 

Ye  Christian  climes  which  freedom  laves, 

How  long  will  ye  give  birth  to  slaves  ? 

Your  Christian  boon  is  misery's  sting, 
Nor  bitterer  Hell  could  ever  plan : 

For  greed,  man's  Christian  heart  will  wring 
Damnation  on  his  fellow-man  ! 

Should  man  too  long  scorn  human  laws, 

Will  Heaven  not  vindicate  their  cause  ? 


GREAT  JUDGE  OF  RIGHT  53 

To  Heaven  was  borne  the  Hebrew's  woes  : 
Heaven  heard  :  the  Assyrian  kissed  the  grave. 

From  Egypt's  pride  their  cries  arose : 

Heaven  frowned  :  'twas  whelmed  beneath  the  wave. 

Injustice  still  to  heaven  doth  groan, — 

Man  is  the  cause,  and  man  alone ! 

Self  centres  in  his  little  soul ; 

Expedience  is  his  blighting  creed  ; 
And  Dura's  god  his  endless  goal, 

Though  millions  groan  and  millions  bleed. 
And  this,  where  Christian  temples  rise 
And  point  their  fingers  to  the  skies. 

Gaze  on  the  heavens,  go  scan  the  earth, — 

What  doth  the  great  "I  AM  "  enthrall  ? 
Free  rose  creation  from  its  birth, 

And  Freedom  still  encircles  all. 
Free  is  the  light  which  heaven  unbars 
From  God's  great  firmament  of  stars  ! 

On  every  head  the  seasons  smile, 

The  waters  brook  not  man's  control, 
The  choiring  wind  is  Freedom's  child  ; 

Unfettered,  on  the  ages  roll. 
On  all  created  good  we  see 
God  writes  his  own  insignia, —  FREE  ! 

Yes,  all  is  free !     Shall  man  alone, 

But  little  less  than  angels  made, — 
Shall  man  in  hopeless  bondage  groan, 

And  kneel  before  his  God  a  slave  ? 
Where  is  the  life  of  Calvary's  creed  ? 
In  vain,  in  vain  did  Jesus  bleed  ? 


54  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

While  mortals  mar,  high  over  all 

God  sees  his  children's  heart-strings  riven  ; 

Not  e'en  an  honest  tear  can  fall 

But  anguish  dims  the  eye  of  Heaven. 

Earth's  needless  tears  and  needless  sighs 

With  grief  would  mantle  all  the  skies  ! 


To  God,  thy  woes,  Columbia,  cry ; 

To  God  goes  up  the  slave's  appeal : 
God  hears  the  wail  of  agony 

Where'er  his  humblest  children  kneel. 
God  lives,  God  rules,  Right  knows  no  grave : 

God  will  keep  justice  for  the  slave ! 

1859. 


GOD  OUR  ETERNAL  SUPPORT  55 


GOD   OUR   ETERNAL   SUPPORT. 

i. 

BENEATH  the  silent  tread  of  Time, 
Ages  and  empires  pass  away ; 

The  stars  above  us  cease  to  shine, 
And  oceans  waste  and  skies  decay. 


n. 
The  mountains  crumble  into  dust, 

The  age-worn  rocks  to  atoms  fall ; 
Still,  man  has  for  his  steadfast  trust, — 

Jehovah  ruleth  over  all ! 


in. 

Though  Change  the  face  of  nature  ploughs, 
Though  Time  the  blossoms  of  the  grave 

Is  wreathing  upon  human  brows, 
One  arm  is  still  outstretched  to  save. 


IV. 

Though  oceans  waste  and  stars  grow  dim, 

Though  all  we  love  must  pass  away, 
In  perfect  faith  we  look  to  Him  : 

Th'  unchanging  God  is  still  our  stay ! 

1859. 


56  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


FRAILTY    OF    HUMAN    JUDGMENT. 

WITH  vision  false  and  erring  sense, 

We  often  blame  and  often  praise, 
Forgetting  that  Omnipotence 

The  motive  in  the  balance  weighs. 

The  springs  of  action  lie  so  deep, 
The  pulse  of  self  so  strongly  throbs, 

The  maze  of  garbs  worn  by  deceit 
No  eye  may  justly  trace  but  God's. 

Shall  our  imperfect  judgment  show 
The  varying  shades  of  good  and  ill  ? 

Can  we  the  silent  forces  know 

Which  mould  the  heart  and  shape  the  will  ? 

The  beamless  eye  the  mote  may  see, 
The  faultless  hand  may  cast  the  stone  : 

Till  then,  our  brother's  sins  may  be, 
Perchance,  reflections  of  our  own. 

Not  always  what  we  deem  a  stain 

In  God's  pure  light  a  stain  will  be  ; 
And  much  we  praise  will  reek  with  shame, 

Unveiled  before  eternity. 

1859. 


LINES    SUPPOSED    TO    BE    WRITTEN    BY    AN    AMERICAN    SLAVE  57 


LINES   SUPPOSED   TO   BE   WRITTEN   BY  AN  AMERICAN 

SLAVE. 

0  LAND  of  my  fathers  !     O  land  of  my  birth  ! 

That  spot,  to  my  heart,  o'er  the  wide-spreading  earth, 

Is  the  dearest,  the  loveliest, —  even  divine 

Seems  the  home  of  my  childhood,  my  own  native  clime. 

Though  a  stranger,  an  exile,  an  alien,  a  slave, 

Though  in  grief  my  gray  hairs  must  go  down  to  the  grave, 

Till  memory  shall  shrink  in  oblivion's  gloam 

1  will  cherish  the  love  of  my  African  home ! 

Though  o'er  her  in  madness  the  harmattan  sweeps, 
Though  the  monsters  of  ocean  may  lout  in  her  deeps, 
Though  death  rides  the  sands  of  Sahara's  vast  sea, 
Might  I  tread  them  again,  where,  at  least,  I  was  free ! 

Deem  ye  there  that  no  oasis  rises  to  cheer  ? 

No  zephyrs  of  gladness  to  dry  sorrow's  tear  ? 

No  swift-glancing  waters  of  love  and  delight  ? 

No  glory-dyed  noon  and  no  grandeur-crowned  night  ? 

Whatever  the  shadows  that  over  thee  fall, 
My  country,  I  love  thee !  light,  shadows,  and  all ! 
Would  to  God  that  my  bones  on  thy  hills  had  a  grave, — 
Accursed  be  the  soil  that  I  tread  as  a  slave  ! 


58  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

As  I  dwell  on  the  themes  that  affection  endears, 
The  rainbow  of  joy  beams  anew  through  my  tears ; 
For  joy's  cup  in  my  own  heathen  breast  would  o'erflow, 
Ere  the  Christian  (for  Christ !)  had  baptized  me  with  woe. 


Though  seared  is  my  heart,  still  its  wild  throbs  reveal 
The  depth  of  the  fountains  the  breast  may  unseal : 
How  soul  yearns  to  soul  when  love's  tendrils  find  root ! 
Spring  yielded  its  blossoms,  but  where  is  the  fruit  ? 


The  wife  of  my  bosom  was  dragged  from  my  gaze, 
And  my  chained  hands  to  God  but  in  prayer  I  could  raise 
And  the  children  she  bore  me,  ay !  where  are  they  now  ? 
For  aye  must  the  slave  in  Gethsemane  bow  ? 


As  the  lightning-rent  oak  of  its  foliage  shorn, 
As  the  mountain-bared  rock  rears  its  front  to  the  storm, 
So  my  heart  is  thus  leafless  and  joyless  and  dead, 
And,  unsheltered,  life's  tempests  sweep  over  my  head. 


Yet  why  for  myself  in  bleared  bitterness  sigh, 

While  my  countrymen  groan  'neath  the  same  brazen  sky  ? 

Shall  one  heart  alone  its  black  agony  tell, 

When  four  millions  are  writhing  within  the  same  hell  ? 


From  our  tyrants  no  vestige  of  right  can  we  claim ; 
On  our  virgins,  they  fasten  pollution  and  shame  ; 
And  our  manhood  they  crush  and  with  infamy  brand, 
Lest  the  germ  from  Jehovah  —  the  mind  —  should  expand. 


LINES    SUPPOSED    TO    BE    WRITTEN    BY    AN    AMERICAN    SLAVE          59 

The  life-freighted  love  of  the  mother,  who  spares  ? 
Who  pities  her  sorrows  ?  who  heedeth  her  prayers  ? 
Who  tempers  the  anguish  that  withers  and  brands 
Her  soul,  when  her  child  on  the  auction  block  stands  ? 


Can  a  Being  of  Justice,  of  Mercy,  and  Love, 
Gaze  unmoved  on  these  sky -piercing  woes,  from  above  ? 
Are  no  thunders  of  vengeance  reserved  where  he  dwells, 
For  these  soul-blasting  curses,  these  earth-rooted  hells  ? 


And,  if  so,  may  our  wails  of  despair  sweep  on  high, 
And  rain  down  on  this  land  all  the  wrath  of  the  sky ! 
And  low,  where  the  blackest  of  bondage  doth  frown, 
May  the  scowl  of  the  Almighty  God  settle  down  ! 

1859. 


6O  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


ADAM,   OR   THE   FIRST   MAN. 

GOD  looked  upon  the  new-made  earth, 

And  all  that  therein  had  their  birth  : 

On  night  and  day,  on  sea  and  sky 

He  gazed ;  and,  as  beneath  his  eye 

Unveiled  the  fair  creation  stood, 

"  He  saw  that  everything  was  good." 

But  when  his  noblest  work  he  viewed, 

And  traced  the  heart's  cold  solitude, — 

Its  pleading  want,  its  aching  ill 

That  Eden's  garden  could  not  fill, — 

He  saw,  to  crown  creation's  plan, 

That  there  was  wanting  unto  man 

A  kindred  soul  to  fill  his  breast 

With  sweetness,  harmony,  and  rest ; 

With  him  to  fall,  with  him  to  rise, 

To  share  his  sorrows  and  his  joys ; 

Whose  harp  with  his  should  e'er  attune 

At  morn",  at  eve,  at  night,  at  noon : 

Nor  yet  the  same, —  a  higher  thought 

Than  yet  the  Hand  Divine  had  wrought, 

A  purer  and  a  holier  flame 

To  halo  round  sweet  woman's  name ! 

A  finer  mould  her  form  shall  trace, 

Transmuted  with  the  soul  of  grace ; 

With  instincts  as  an  angel's  glance, 

Her  radiant  thought  shall  thought  entrance  ; 

Her  breast  with  clinging  love  shall  glow, 

To  star  the  brow  of  human  woe  ; 


ADAM,    OR    THE    FIRST    MAN  6 1 

And  lovely  as  an  angel's  dream 
Shall  woman  on  man's  spirit  gleam. 
While  less  of  earth,  but  more  of  sky, 
Shall  swell  each  breast  with  new-born  joy ; 
Where  blending  differences  shall  meet 
To  clasp  in  union  strong  and  sweet ; 
And  soul  greet  soul,  as  face  greets  face, 
While  each,  each  other's  good  shall  trace  : 
Yet,  every  varying  gift  must  kiss, 
To  breathe  the  joy  of  mutual  bliss. 

Thence  sprang  the  kind  Creator's  plan 
To  climax  every  boon  to  man, 
And  give  to  earth  one  heavenly  ray 
To  gladden  all  his  pilgrim  way. 

As  one  by  one  the  stars  came  forth 
And  shone  upon  the  new-made  earth  ; 
As  softest  zephyrs  by  were  borne 
Which  ne'er  had  mingled  with  the  storm, 
And,  laden  with  the  rich  perfume 
Of  Eden  in  her  virgin  bloom, 
The  first  man  sought  sweet  Nature's  rest, 
Alone,  where  all  was  good,  unblest. 


Then,  we  are  told,  from  Adam's  side 
The  Lord  man's  greatest  want  supplied. 
No  common  clay  the  quick  may  trace 
Of  woman's  loveliness  and  grace  ; 
And  near  the  heart  God  took  the  germ, 
That  soul  to  soul  might  ever  yearn. 


62  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

The  young  dawn  over  Eden  broke, 
And  Adam  from  his  slumber  woke. 
The  moan's  soft  bloom  his  lids  unsealed, 
And  God's  best  gift  to  man  revealed. 
And  all  for  which  his  soul  had  sighed 
Reposed  in  beauty  by  his  side. 

Then  first  had  birth  the  sacred  thrill 
That  rules  the  sons  of  Adam  still. 
On  Eve's  sweet  lips,  Love's  kiss  he  pressed, 
And  called  Heaven's  latest  work  the  best ; 
For  God  to  Eden's  joys  had  given 
A  foretaste  of  the  bliss  of  heaven. 
And  heaven's  return  will  be  to  view 
Their  loving  hearts  forever  true. 

Where  now  the  pall,  the  ache,  the  gloom, 
Which  rankled  over  Eden's  bloom  ? 
Forever  gone !  and  ties  have  birth 
Throughout  all  time  to  hallow  earth, — 
Ties,  that  will  fill  the  world  with  bliss 
While  Adam's  sons  Eve's  daughters  kiss. 

Woman !  thy  charms  though  frailties  soil, 

And  imperfections  round  thee  press, 

Still,  what  were  life  without  thy  smile 

To  cheer,  to  comfort,  and  to  bless ! 

Gloom  would  enfold  man's  mortal  way, 

And  sadness  every  joy  repel ; 

Despair's  black  night  would  shroud  Hope's  day, — 

Ay,  even  Eden  would  be  hell ! 

1860. 


AS    WE    GO    MARCHING    ON  63 


AS   WE   GO   MARCHING   ON. 

A  Campaign  Song. 

WE'RE  marching  on  to  victory,  as  oft  we've  marched  before  : 
The  Democratic  minions  reel,  and  bite  the  dust  once  more, 
And  the  Ku-Klux  Southern  devils  feel  the  assassin's  reign  is  o'er, 
As  we  go  marching  on. 

CHORUS. —  Glory,  glory  hallelujah  ! 
Glory,  glory  hallelujah ! 
Glory,  glory  hallelujah ! 
Our  cause  is  marching  on. 


Though  Seymour's  burning,  butchering  "friends,"  their  hissing  venom 

shed, 

Though  rebels  howl  whose  hands  to-day  with  loyal  blood  are  red, 
The  Southern  whip  no  more  shall  crack  above  the  freeman's  head, 
As  we  go  marching  on. 

CHORUS. 


The  blood-hounds  of  rebellion  shall  not  hunt  the  loyal  down, 
For  Fatherland  and  Liberty  they  faced  war's  lurid  frown ; 
Through  tears  and  blood  they  bore  the  cross, —  and  peace  their  brows 
shall  crown, 

As  we  go  marching  on. 

CHORUS. 


64  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

We  ask  no  boon  but  what  we  wish  the  whole  broad  land  to  bear, 
But  justice  for  the  leal  and  true  demands  our  grateful  care ; 
The  loyal  souls  through  freedom's  night  shall  freedom's  day-beams  share 
As  we  go  marching  on. 

CHORUS. 


By  manhood's  hopes  and  woman's  prayers,  by  every  Union  grave, 
O'er  our  broad  land,  our  Union  flag  for  equal  rights  shall  wave : 
The  "corner-stone"  on  which  we  build  will  never  be  the  slave, 
As  we  go  marching  on. 

CHORUS. 


Wave  on,  thou  flag  of  human  hope,  in  freedom's  sacred  light, 
No  human  bondage  stains  thy  folds ;  but,  pledged  to  truth  and  right, 
The  Golden  Rule  shall  gild  each  star,  and  temper  every  stripe, 
As  we  go  marching  on. 

CHORUS. 

1868. 


COMMEMORATION    HYMN  65 


COMMEMORATION    HYMN. 

TUNE. —  "  A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God." 


THE  God  of  Nations  is  our  stay, 
His  hand  has  been  our  guiding ; 

He  leads  us  in  his  own  good  way, 
Our  hearts  in  his  confiding. 

He  was  our  shining  light 

In  tribulation's  night  ; 

When  human  hope  grew  dim, 

Our  trust  was  firm  in  him, 
And  he  vouchsafed  the  victory. 


ii. 

The  line  and  plummet  of  his  rule 

Has  rent  Oppression's  fetter : 
Must  tears  forever  be  the  school 

That  God  is  God  forever  ? 
His  children  he  will  keep, 
His  judgments  never  sleep  ; 
The  ages  are  his  own, 
And  Justice  is  his  throne, 
The  Lord  is  God  forever ! 


66  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

III. 

We  saw  him  not, —  we  strove  alone, 
We  sank,  weak,  worn,  and  gory ; 
We  reared  Emancipation's  throne, — 

HE  CROWNED  US  WITH  HIS  GLORY  ! 

His  was  the  guiding  hand, 
He  led  the  noble  band 
Who  battled  in  his  might 
For  Liberty  and  Right, 
And  Freedom  made  eternal  ! 


IV. 

Great  God  !  be  thou  our  bulwark  still, 

The  tower  of  our  salvation  ; 
Still  may  our  hearts  discern  thy  will, 

Still  keep  and  bless  our  nation. 
May  Peace  with  Justice  blend, 
May  Right  her  realm  extend, 
May  Freedom  find  a  shrine 
Fast  by  the  throne  of  Time, 

And  Heaven  will  guard  our  nation. 

1871. 


THE    BURNING    OF    CHICAGO  67 


THE   BURNING   OF   CHICAGO. 

THE  flames  burst  around  as  if  hell  had  been  rent, 
Hissing,  leaping,  and  roaring  like  demons  at  play, 

Mocking  man  like  a  fiend,  e'en  by  granite  unspent, 
The  toils  of  an  age  lapping  up  in  a  day. 


In  vast  smoking  piles,  her  proud  industry  lies  ; 

The  cottage,  the  mansion,  the  palace  of  trade, 
The  temples  which  pointed  so  late  to  the  skies, 

In  scorching  and  blistering  ruins  are  laid. 


Despatch  wings  despatch  but  our  hearts  to  appall, 
And  flash  thy  calamity  over  the  land ; 

But  the  angel  in  man  leaps  to  life  at  thy  call 
For  help,  and  outreaches  the  brotherly  hand. 


Swift,  swift  o'er  your  courses,  ye  chariots  of  fire, 
Leap  forth  with  the  life-freighted  burdens  of  love  ; 

For  man,  with  his  servants,  the  rail  and  the  wire, 
In  the  dire  hour  of  need  may  be  almost  a  God  ! 


68  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

Yet  the  flame-riven  hearts  by  hot  Michigan's  shore 
Despair  and  misfortune  to  tatters  will  rend  ; 

Loving  homes  and  proud  marts  once  again  to  restore, 
Western  manhood  will  pour  out  its  wealth  to  the  end. 


Her  future,  unshadowed,  will  rise  from  the  flames, 
A  multiplied  marvel  of  wonder  and  might ; 

And  again  will  her  glory  ascend  from  the  plains, 
Lifted  up  as  a  crystallized  dream  of  the  night. 

1871. 


THE    GATHERING    CLOUD  69 


THE   GATHERING   CLOUD. 

SCARCE  bigger  than  a  threatening  hand 
Columbia  marks  the  gathering  cloud  : 

Shall  its  fell  gloom  o'erspread  the  land, 
Bid  Progress  halt,  and  Freedom  shroud  ? 


Shall  we  subdue  the  morning  light, 

And  fetter  education's  ray  ? 
Shall  moleish  vision  yield  to  night, 

The  night  that  mantles  Roman  sway  ? 

Shall  Superstition  be  the  school 

To  train  and  warp  the  mind  of  youth  ? 

Or  independent  Reason  rule, 
And  Knowledge  lead  the  way  to  truth  ? 

The  pillar  of  the  nation's  strength 
Is  grounded  in  the  Public  School  : 

Will  Romish  craft  prevail  at  length, 
That  sacred  fane  shall  priesthood  rule  ? 


At  Rome's  dictation  shall  we  kneel, 
And  yield  supine  to  Popish  claims  ? 

Shall  age-linked  craft  our  birthright  steal, 
And  blast  our  hopes  and  forge  our  chains  ? 


7O  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

Shades  of  the  reverend  Pilgrim  dead, 

Who  reared  in  prayer  the  Church  and  School, 

Shall  soaring  Truth  be  cowled  and  led, 
Or  Reason  cringe  where  taught  to  rule  ? 


Who  rent  the  bonds  of  Church  and  State  ? 

Who  reared,  Intelligence,  thy  fanes  ? 
What  seed,  Columbia,  made  thee  great  ? 

Who  bore  the  torch  which  Freedom  flames  ? 


Shall  this  inheritance  be  thrust, 

A  sop,  to  priestly  power  and  greed  ? 

Who  bates  one  jot  of  this  great  trust 
On  mildewed  heritage  would  feed  ! 


The  garnering  ages  are  a  shrine 
Where  not  alone  the  living  kneel : 

Down  the  unoutlined  vault  of  Time, 
The  Future  wings  her  mute  appeal. 


As  mighty  sentinels  of  God, 

Earth's  generations  come  and  go  ; 

And  each  with  vengeance  bares  the  rod 
That  proves  to  human  weal  a  foe. 

Our  Fathers  planted  :  we  enjoy, 

And  broadly  gather  while  they  sleep ; 

And  what  they  reared  their  sons  will  try 
To  safely  guard,  and  surely  keep ! 


1872. 


STANZAS  71 


STANZAS. 

STERN  winter  not  always  is  sheeted  in  ice, 
And  summer  has  more  than  showers ; 

And  poor  is  the  heart  that  can  never  rejoice, 
Or  that  gathers  the  nettles  for  flowers. 


Cheer  up !  with  a  brave,  loving  smile  let  us  meet 

The  duties  of  life  as  they  glide ; 
When  with  courage  and  beauty  our  lives  are  replete, 

God  ever  is  close  by  our  side. 

1872. 


72  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


HURRAH    FOR   THE   BEACH. 

HURRAH  for  the  beach  !  the  glorious  beach  ! 
Where  the  briny  waves  to  the  greensward  reach  ; 
Where  the  marvellous  waters  ebb  and  flow, 
And  the  sacred  winds  of  the  ocean  blow 
O'er  the  heaving  main,  full  of  tonic  wealth, 
And  rich  with  the  blessings  of  bounding  health  ; 
Where  the  foaming  surges  break  and  roll 
As  pure  and  as  white  as  a  maiden's  soul. 
Sweep  gratefully  up  from  your  purified  home, 
O  beautiful  Sea !  with  your  breakers  and  foam  ; 
Sweep  over  the  floor  of  the  sanded  shore, 
Or  high  on  the  rocks  of  creation  roar, 
Which  are  lifted  sublime  by  the  Almighty  hand, 
Thy  bosom  to  grace  and  ennoble  thy  strand  : 
Though  ye  angrily  toss  or  peacefully  sleep, 
For  me  there  is  ever  a  smile  on  the  deep. 


1872. 


SCATTER    THE    FLOWERS  73 


SCATTER   THE   FLOWERS. 

SCATTER  the  flowers, 
Our  Father's  smiles, 

On  the  soldier's  grave : 
Sweet  as  his  care, 
Pure  as  his  love, 

Is  the  sleep  of  the  brave. 

Their  memories  green 
Our  hearts  will  keep 

In  immortal  beauty : 
Each  hallowed  grave 
Is  an  angel's  call 

To  unfaltering  duty. 

The  lives  they  lived, 
The  deaths  they  died, 

Will  remembered  be, 
While  the  grasses  grow, 
And  the  rivers  flow 

To  the  great,  wide  sea. 

No  more  may  Wrong 
His  sceptre  wield, 

Nor  ever  Justice  sleep  : 
Their  sacred  trusts 
Our  souls  will  guard, 

And  Freedom's  portal  keep. 


1875. 


74  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 


THE   SABBATH    BELLS. 


How  SWEETLY  on  the  morning  air 
To  worship  call  the  Sabbath  bells  ; 
And  tender  as  an  angel's  prayer 
O'er  hill  and  vale  their  music  swells. 


ii. 

The  flowers  which  from  the  ground  arise, 
The  living  robes  which  earth  adorn, 
The  sacred  blue  that  paints  the  skies, 
Seem  holier  on  the  Sabbath  morn. 


in. 

Send  over  hill  and  vale,  sweet  bells, 
Your  call  to  worship  and  to  prayer : 
Heaven's  benison  benignly  dwells 
With  every  listening  pilgrim  there. 


1875- 


LINES    WRITTEN    IN    DIFFICULTY  75 


LINES   WRITTEN    IN   DIFFICULTY. 

BE  calm  and  strong,  my  soul : 

When  keen  anxieties  beset  thy  way, 

And  difficulty  looms,  height  upon  height, 

Like  giant  mountains  upon  mountains  piled, 

Let  not  the  gathering  shadows  of  despair 

Thy  vision  dim,  or  hide  thy  Father's  smiles. 

When  trial  like  an  avalanche  descends, 

Call  on  thy  noblest  manhood  to  stand  forth 

And  hurl  it  back,  or  by  the  shock  be  crushed. 

Whatever  may  befall,  let  nothing  shake 

Thy  steadfast  faith  in  God's  protecting  care  ; 

But  bravely  hope,  and  bravely  do  thy  best, 

Then,  with  an  angel's  trust,  wait  for  the  light : 

For  ever  would  my  soul  on  Thee  repose, 

And  nestle  with  a  credence  naught  can  shake 

In  thy  unslumbering,  gracious  providence. 

When  racked  and  worn,  dejected,  crushed,  soul-sick, 

When  human  strength  can  bear  and  do  no  more, 

And  panting,  struggling  effort  finds  itself 

Dashed  headlong  on  the  iron  rail  of  life, 

Bewildered,  blinded,  stunned, —  then  let  me  stop, 

Stop  short !  and  take  anew  the  bearings  of 

This  little  span. 


76  EARLY   ASPIRATIONS 

Does  judgment  not  cry,  Hold! 
When  health,  like  chaff,  is  blown  to  every  wind, 
And  constitutions  seem  but  worthless  grist 
To  feed  the  hopper  of  life's  grinding  mill  ? 
Weigh  well  this  blind,  mad,  withering  haste, 
This  cold,  unpitying,  swirling  greed  of  gain  ! 
Weigh  even  the  stern  duty  that  impels 
To  spread  the  board  of  plenty  in  our  homes. 
Nature  but  little  needs,  and  well  can  spare 
The  rack  and  toil  of  artificial  wants. 
The  pampered  appetite  is  never  full, 
And  craving  luxury  is  never  cloyed  : 
The  more  we  nurse  vagaries  of  desire 
The  faster  will  dissatisfaction  breed. 


What  boots  it  all,  this  wild,  relentless  rush, — 
Relentless  as  Niagara's  plunge  and  roar? 
Though  competition,  merciless,  strides  on  ; 
Though  effort  every  sinew  overstrain, 
Yet  still  perplexity  bars  every  road  ; 
Though  obloquy  and  malice  hedge  our  way  ; 
Though  thorny  sickness  pales  the  inward  fire  ; 
Though,  last  of  all,  where  sorrow's  bottom  stops, 
Where  naught  can  underlie  or  get  behind 
To  mar  the  passionless  repose  of  death, — 
Then  let  the  heart  of  manhood  beat,  not  swift 
And  wild,  but  calm  and  strong ;  and,  howsoever  dark 
The  way,  keep  in  the  soul  —  clear,  firm,  serene  — 
The  grand,  triumphant  faith  that  mountains  moves, 
The  trust  that  led  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  o'er 
The  surging  seas,  and  bade  their  spirits  sing 


LINES    WRITTEN    IN    DIFFICULTY 

Above  the  storm  !     So  to  the  bruised  heart 
Shall  rest  and  light  and  sacred  healing  come. 
So  light  and  rest  and  peace  and  joy  we  find  ; 
The  crooked  paths  of  Providence  grow  straight ; 
The  cup  of  disappointment  has  no  dregs  ; 
The  sting  is  drawn  from  unrequited  aims ; 
And  gall  and  bitterness  find  no  lodgement 
In  the  heart  that  keeps  a  childlike,  trusting 

Faith  in  God's  directing  and  protecting  care. 

1875. 


78  EARLY   ASPIRATIONS 


LINES    WRITTEN    IN    AN   ALBUM. 

DEAR  GERTIE,  I  must  not  reveal  all  the  love 

The  heart  of  a  father  may  bear  ; 
Some  would  deem  me  but  weak,  though  my  darling  would  know 

Every  wish  of  my  heart  is  a  prayer. 

So  loving  and  thoughtful,  so  tender  and  wise, 

Like  a  dear  little  woman  you  seem  : 
To  be  frank,  you  appear  in  your  fond  father's  eyes 

As  if  Nature  had  made  you  a  queen. 

Noble  aims  on  your  brow  as  a  coronet  wear, 

And  the  sweet  name  of  woman  adorn  ; 
Be  as  true  as  the  blush  on  the  rose,  and  as  fair 

As  the  dew  on  the  lily  of  morn. 

You  throw  me  back  blessings  and  crown  me  with  mirth 

By  striving  to  be  all  you  seem  : 
In  wisdom,  simplicity,  sweetness,  and  worth 

Be  ever  and  always  a  queen. 

CANTON,  March  23,  1879. 


THE    UNVEILING    OF    THE    LINCOLN    STATUE  79 


SUGGESTED    BY    THE    UNVEILING    OF    THE    LINCOLN 
EMANCIPATION   STATUE   IN    BOSTON. 

UNVEIL  the  proud  emblem  of  Freedom, 
Let  the  sweet  light  of  God  round  it  play  : 
The  chain  of  the  bondsman  is  broken, 
O'er  the  night  of  the  slave  rolls  the  day. 
No  Juggernaut  tyranny  drives  o'er  the  weak  ; 
Nevermore  may  a  blush  mantle  Liberty's  cheek. 


Immortality  guardeth  her  children, 
Blessings  hallow  the  places  they  trod, — 
With  a  tear  for  the  Heaven-guided  Lincoln, 
Humanity  bows  and  thanks  God. 
Benign  as  the  blessings  of  all-healing  grace, 
His  grand  benediction  is  lifting  a  race. 


This  shrine  is  most  fittingly  lifted 

Where  first  beamed  the  star  of  the  slave, 

For  here  the  great-souled  and  the  gifted 

The  death-blow  to  tyranny  gave. 

Here,  reviled,  jeered,  and  hated,  they  fearlessly  trod, 

Sustained  and  consoled  by  their  conscience  and  God. 


8O  EARLY   ASPIRATIONS 

Here  the  great  sun  of  Garrison  rose, 

Here  the  lightnings  of  Phillips  were  hurled, 

Sumner  went  forth  for  Liberty's  throes, 

And  her  battle-flags  Andrew  unfurled. 

Wills  of  adamant  here  were  for  Freedom  arrayed, 

And  here  the  dark  tide  of  the  nation  was  stayed. 

They  were  rooted  and  fixed  as  the  mountains 

For  Liberty,  Justice,  and  Right ; 

Their  clarions  rang  through  the  nation, 

The  demon  of  bondage  to  smite. 

And  in  vain  sought  the  nation  the  Union  to  save 

Till  the  shackles  were  struck  from  the  limbs  of  the  slave. 


1879. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    LIFE  8 1 


THE   BATTLE   OF   LIFE. 

HUMAN  life  is  a  battle,  and  sometimes  the  strife 
No  truce  to  the  struggle,  no  lull  will  impart ; 

And  misgivings  worm  into  the  sedges  of  life, 
And  sadness  gets  hold  of  the  strings  of  the  heart. 

There  are  things  that  we  would,  that  no  striving  can  do, 
There  are  hopes  and  fond  aims  that  we  cannot  attain  ; 

From  our  dreams  we  awake,  then  our  dreamings  renew  : 
So  life  ever  goes  on  with  its  pleasure  and  pain. 

Our  resolves  roll  and  break  like  the  wild-beating  surge  ; 

They  are  dashed  on  the  shore,  and  then  backward  they  roll 
So  the  tides  of  our  lives  their  resistless  floods  urge, 

But  again  they  will  ebb  beyond  human  control. 

Yet  the  spirit  of  man  has  a  realm  of  delight, 

Where  it  wills  and  it  rules,  and  exults  in  its  joy : 

'Tis  the  realm  of  the  heart,  it  is  love's  sacred  light, 
Which  blesses  the  earth  and  makes  radiant  the  sky. 

For  the  spirit  with  courage  and  vigor  will  burn, 

When  we  think  of  the  loved  ones  that  hallow  our  way  ; 

And  the  heart,  true  and  strong,  to  surrender  would  spurn, 
When  the  burdens  grow  light  as  the  children's  at  play. 


82  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

To  soften  the  pillow  where  nightly  they  sleep, 
To  carpet  with  blessings  their  pathway  in  life, 

May  this  be  the  heritage  long  we  may  keep, 

Then  welcome  the  battle  and  sweet  be  the  strife. 


No  repining,  no  whining,  no  fretting  complaint, 

The  head  must  be  clear,  the  hand  willing  and  strong ; 

For  omnipotent  will  overrides  all  restraint, 

So  the  night  may  grow  short,  and  the  day  may  be  long. 

1881. 


THE  LOVED  ONES  AT  HOME  83 


THE  LOVED  ONES  AT  HOME. 

WHEREVER  my  footsteps  may  wander, 
Wherever  in  life  I  may  roam, 
The  delight  and  the  joy  of  my  soul  is  to  think 
Of  my  beautiful  loved  ones  at  home. 


If  the  battle  of  life  clouds  my  vision 
When  the  burden  o'er-heavy  has  grown, 
It  fills  me  with  courage  and  cheers  me  anew 
When  I  think  of  the  loved  ones  at  home. 


When  the  light  of  my  life  is  departing 
To  the  realms  of  the  mighty  unknown, 
I  know  that  my  spirit  will  linger  to  bless 
My  sorrowful  loved  ones  at  home. 


And  in  the  great  world  over  yonder, 
Wheresoever  permitted  to  roam, 
Every  uplifted  prayer  to  the  Father  I'll  bear 
From  my  suppliant  loved  ones  at  home. 


84  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

When  in  danger  and  darkness  and  trial, 
Think  not  ye  are  ever  alone  ; 
For,  if  spirit  through  silence  to  spirit  may  come, 
Light  will  beam  on  my  loved  ones  at  home. 


I  shall  meet  the  long  lost  and  the  loving, 
Where  partings  no  more  will  be  known  ; 
And  close  to  the  living,  when  called,  I  will  stand, 
To  welcome  the  angels  from  home. 


1882. 


ANCHORINGS  85 


ANCHORINGS. 

HEARTS  sound  at  the  core  to  true  honor  will  cleave 
Through  life's  Sisyphus  toilings,  through  conflict  and  wrong ; 

Though  detraction  may  cloud,  and  though  praise  may  deceive, 
Yet  the  smile  of  the  soul  is  the  strength  of  the  strong. 

Evil  always  is  evil, —  good  reigns  as  the  sun  ; 

Truth. is  never  a  lie, —  right  is  always  the  same  ; 
God's  lines  never  cross,  through  the  ages  they  run, 

And  girdle  them  round  as  with  cordons  of  flame. 

Hate  barbs  her  own  breast  and  grinds  day  into  night, 
While  love  —  life's  best  angel  —  pure  blessedness  sheds  ; 

Philanthropy's  hill-tops  are  flooded  with  light, 

And  self-sacrifice  hallows  the  ground  that  it  treads. 

Amidst  life's  mutations,  its  triumphs  and  tears, 

Marriage  bells  and  despair,  bliss  and  woe  side  by  side, 

With  want,  pain,  and  heartaches  surcharging  the  years, — 
What  a  bauble  is  pomp !  for  but  scorn  is  poor  pride ! 

Sick  and  tired  is  the  heart  of  the  jargon  of  creeds, 
Of  sectarian  bitterness,  wrangling,  and  strife  ; 

But  it  welcomes  the  thought  that  will  meet  human  needs, 
That  will  character  build  and  ennoble  the  life. 


86  EARLY    ASPIRATIONS 

O'er  the  rivalries  fierce,  and  the  rush  of  the  mart, 
May  thought,  genius  born,  solace,  cheer  and  expand  ; 

And  may  nature's  fond  charms  softly  steal  through  the  heart, 
While  perfection  and  beauty  encircle  the  land. 


I  wist  not,  nor  care,  what  the  multitude  say, 
But  the  noble  in  action  and  thought  I  revere : 

Proud  Duty  points  out  her  invincible  way, 

And  her  paths  by  the  fixed  stars  of  God  are  made  clear. 


While  all  nature's  voices  with  gladness  may  thrill, 

While  my  soul  with  the  flowers  a  sweet  kinship  can  claim, 

While  the  loved  ones  I  live  for  their  radiance  instil, 
But  a  rattle  is  praise,  and  no  venom  has  blarne. 


The  soul  holds  communings  where  eye  cannot  see, 
And  her  sacred  revealings  to  silence  belong ; 

But  this  message  she  often  has  whispered  to  me : 
In  endeavor  be  faithful,  in  trial  be  strong. 


But  we  walk  not  alone,  angels  lovingly  guide, 

Though  no  presence  we  trace,  and  no  voices  we  hear ; 

When  life's  passions  are  hushed,  they  are  close  by  our  side, — 
Though  unheard  and  unseen,  yet  we  know  they  are  near. 

1883, 


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